F1 to get standing restarts after safety car next year

Filed under: Motorsports

In the ever-changing world that is the Formula One rule book, 2015 will see a bevy of new tweaks. The most notable, besides the absurd inclusion of titanium skidplates, is the introduction of standing restarts following safety car periods.

The full rule change, which will be implemented for the 2015 F1 season reads:

"Safety Car restarts will now be a standing start from the grid. Standing starts will not be carried out if the Safety Car is used within two laps of the start (or restart) of a race or if there are less than five laps of the race remaining."

According to F1 bosses, this is being done to increase excitement. It'll be exciting alright, interrupting the flow of the race by bringing the cars to a halt instead of just letting them get on with the business of racing.

More troubling, though, is that this new move seems to fly in the face of common sense in regards to safety. The first corner of a track following the start is the single most dangerous part of a race, as nearly two dozen fragile, bumper-less, 750-horsepower racecars jockey for position. So now, when there's a wreck that's bad enough to bring out the safety car, we're going to immediately follow that with a situation that can lead to more carnage...

The opinions of the drivers, meanwhile, remain mixed. Some, like Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, are impartial to the move, while Mercedes-AMG's Nico Rosberg wasn't in favor of the implementation. Daniel Riccardo, at Red Bull, offered perhaps the most balanced opinion, calling standing starts more exciting but less fair.

What are your thoughts on this latest rule change from the FIA? Do you support it, or should the safety car just get out of the way and let the race get going again? Have your say in Comments. You can also scroll down for the full announcement regarding changes for 2015, from the FIA.

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F1 to get standing restarts after safety car next year originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 29 Jun 2014 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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